My stepdad's hotrod...

He's been building it for the past couple of years (evenings and weekends, just taking his time). It's still not completely finished (some trim work and the interior is waiting to be finished and then upholstered).

He built the engine, fabricated the grill, chopped the roof, made the round side windows and did all the assembling and machining. He and his brother painted it last month (I did lobby quite hard for metallic orange...) and he dropped the engine in a few weekends ago.

It's LOUD!

And I took my first ride in it today, to the hardware store. We wound up on an isolated half-mile straightaway road near an industrial/commercial area and he pegged the accelerator. First time ever I've been pinned back to my seat by the speed/power of a car. And I LOVED it.

About the color, he and my Mom only changed their mind about 400 times during the building process!

Funny thing, their VERY first choice (over two years ago) was yellow. During the process, they also considered a metallic salmon color, some blues and other colors. Flames and pinstriping were also considered, but, in the end, they went with their initial gut instinct.

Yeah, probably. They go to that stuff a bit and even here in town, on Friday nights, there's a big group of people with hotrods and old cars and restored stuff that congregate in the parking lot of a nearby Wal-Mart. Nothing formal, just people with their cool cars all lined up and checking each other's cars out and so forth.

But I think he will take it to more organized, "serious" shows and stuff too. When it's all finished, of course.

They just like driving it around and it's been a true labor of love, so now they're going to have a blast with it. They've waited for this moment for a long time.

Well he?s certainly got the talent. The money for the parts was spread out over several years, a bit at a time. And, of course, he saved a TON on any labor costs because...well, he did it all himself.

And he just made time when he could, between a full-time job (often over 50 hours/week), work around the house, being a good husband, etc.

Nobody in my family is rich and he had to squeeze all this in as he could, so that?s probably another reason they like it so much...after all that time and waiting, there?s a sweet, tangible payoff in the end. And that?s probably why I dig it as much also, because I know the time and effort put into it. I was telling them yesterday that this feels much cooler than just plopping down money for one and you have no real, personal stake in it.